Brazil’s Fundecitrus on May 28 participated in the Expocitros 2026 lecture session “Focus, Efficiency and Control.” The session focused on the primary phytosanitary challenges facing the Brazilian citrus industry. A session highlight was a lecture by agronomist Ivaldo Sala, coordinator of Fundecitrus’ Technology Transfer Department. Sala’s lecture title was “HLB: How to Proceed in New Citrus-Growing Regions.”
Sala said the expansion of citrus cultivation into new regions is driven by the high incidence of citrus greening across most of the traditional Citrus Belt. Producers are seeking out areas with lower disease pressure and conditions more favorable to their orchards.
“In these expansion regions, the psyllid (which spreads greening) population tends to be smaller due to higher temperatures, which reduce the insect’s acquisition of the bacterium, thereby lowering disease pressure,” Sala said.
Despite this more favorable scenario, Sala warned that both greening and the psyllid are already present in all regions featuring new plantings, demanding constant vigilance from producers. “To date, no resistance to pyrethroids or neonicotinoids has been identified in the psyllid populations within these regions, which expands the available control options,” he said. “Therefore, management strategies must be implemented from the very moment orchards are established, focusing on the key pillars of psyllid control and greening prevention.”
Fundecitrus researcher Renato Bassanezi presented a lecture titled “Adjusting the Focus of HLB Control.” Bassanezi emphasized that simply interrupting the psyllid’s life cycle within the orchard is not sufficient. The primary challenge lies in preventing the transmission of the bacterium responsible for causing the disease.
“The most critical moment is the budding period, when the plant is most vulnerable,” Bassanezi said. “Therefore, it is necessary to constantly monitor and protect the new shoots with more frequent applications of insecticides.”
Bassanezi said greening control cannot rely on a single measure. It is necessary to adopt complementary actions since no available tool completely eliminates the transmission of the bacterium.
“The removal of diseased plants — both inside and outside the orchard — is essential to reduce sources of contamination,” Bassanezi said. “Successful management depends on a combination of continuous, integrated and preventive actions.”
Learn about the increasing incidence of citrus greening in Brazil here.
Source: Fundecitrus
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